Improvement in revolving fire-arms



REVOLVING FIRE-ARM.

Patented Jan. 18,1876.

C. D m T G M N S A W H H P A R G D H h EDWARD P. BOARDMAN AND ANDREW J.PEAVEY, OF LAWRENCE, MASS.

IMPROVEMENT IN REVOLVING FIRE-ARMS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 172,243, dated January18,1876; application filed June 24, 1875.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, EDWARD. P. BOARD- MAN and ANDREW J. PEAVEY, ofLawrence, in the county of Essex, State of Massachusetts, have inventeda certain new and useful Improvement in Pistols, of which the followingis a description sufficicntly full, clear, and exact to enable anyperson skilled in the art or science to which our invention appertainsto make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawing, forming a part of this specification, in which- Figure l is aside elevation, and Fig. 2 a vertical longitudinal section.

Like letters of reference Indicate correspondng parts in the differentfigures of the drawmg.

Our invention relates to that class of pistols generally known asrevolvers; and consists in a novel construction and arrangement of theparts, as hereinafter more fully set forth and claimed, by which thesize of the implement is greatly reduced, while its effectiveness isincreased.

It is well known that pistols of this nature, when constructed with astock or handle of sufiicient proportions to enable. them to be held inthe hand and discharged inthe usual manner without depending upon thebarrel to steady the same, aretoo cumbersome to be conveniently carriedin the pocket. It is also well known that most pistols, whetherrevolvers or otherwise, require cockin g by an inde pendent or entirelydifferent motion of the hand from that made in discharging the same--thatis to say, the hammer is drawn back and set by one movement and thetrigger pulled by another, thus rendering it impossible, in manyinstances, to fire as rapidly as desirable.

Our invention is designed to obviate this objection and difficulty; andto that end we make use of means, the nature and operation of which willbe readily understood by all conversant with such matters from thefollowing description In the drawing, A is the stock or body; B, thebarrel; Q, the cylinder; and D, the pushpin or trigger-rod. Thecylinder, which is of the ordinary construction, is arranged to revolveon the pintle or axis R, having the pull or head T, and is provided witha seriesof cartridge-chambers, arranged in parallelism with each other,and with the barrel B, in the usual-manner. A lever, V, is pivoted inthe lower part of the stock, and to one end of this lever there isjointed the locking-pin or bolt U, Workingvertically in a hole in thestock, its upper end fitting into a groove, S, cut around the pintle R,and into which it is forced by the expansive action of the coiled springW beneath the free end of the lever. Pivoted in a proper socket orcavity, formed within the breech of the pistol, there is a hammer, m,provided with a spring, N, the expansive action of which tends to forcethe hammer in the direction of the cylinder Q. Do the lower part of thehammer, contiguous to the cylinder, there is a flange or projection towhich is pivoted a click or pawl, P, provided with the spring 0. Thisspring has one of its ends attached to the interior of the stock, its

opposite or free end resting upon the pawl,

and forcing it down into contact with a series of ordinary ratchetteeth,(not shown,) arranged in circular form on the end of the cylinder. Apin, K, is fitted to work in a hole drilled vertically in the hammer,and beneath this pin there is a coiled spring, L, the action of whichcauses it to protrude slightly above the top of the hammer, forming ayielding stud or dog. The stock A is extended somewhat above the barrelB, and provided with a longi-' tudinal aperture or hole, in which therod D is fitted to slide freely in parallelism with the barrel, beingkept from revolving by the pro at H. The outer end of the rod is alsodrilled to receive the short coiled spring 1', the inner end of whichrests against the rod, and the outer end against the pull G, the actionof the spring tending to keep the pull in a vertical position. Attachedto the stock beneath the rod D, and arranged to extend over the cylinderQ, there is a flat spring, X, provided upon its lower face with the stopor catch Y, which is fitted to work in a series of depressions or nicks,a, formed in the periphery of the cylinder Q, and corresponding innumber with the number of chambers therein.

In the use of our improved revolver the spring V is depressed,withdrawing the pin U from the slot S, thus enabling the pintle It andcylinder Q to be removed,'when the cylinder may be charged or loadedwith cartridges in the usual manner, and again returned to position. Thepistol is then held in the palm of the hand, the end of the barrel Bresting on the second finger, the forefinger being placed around thepull G, which should be elevated, as shown in Fig. 2. The rod D is thenpulled or forced inwardly, the tooth J being thus brought into contactwiththe pin K, pushing the hammer m back, and causing the pawl P to actagainst the ratchet on the cylinder R to revolve the same, the catch Ybeing meantime raised out of the nick a. As the rod D continues toadvance, and the cylinder to .revolve, the hammer m will be thrown backto full cock, when the tooth J will escape or pass by the pin K, leavingthe spring N to force the hammer down upon the cartridge with a sharppercussive blow and explode the same. Just prior to the tooth J passingor escaping the pin K, as described, one of the loaded chambers in thecylinder will be brought into such a position that its axial or centralline will be coincident with that of the barrel B, in which position itwill be held by the stop Y falling into one of the nicks a, thusproperly securing the cylinder before the discharge takes place. The rodD being now released the expansive action of the spring F will force itoutwardly, causing the tooth J to pass over the pin K, the spring Lyielding for that purpose, and thus bringing the parts again intotheposition shown in Fig. 2, preparatory to firing anothershot.

The pull Gserves not only as a finger-piece, with which to pull the rod1), but also as a guard or stopple to prevent foreign substances fromentering the barrel B, as seen in Fig. 1.

"concaved at Z, to enable the pistolvto be heldmore securely by thefinger on which the barrel is rested, as described. The boss h on therod D is so formed, and the springX so arranged, that the boss elevatesthe catch Y as the boss advances, until the hammer is nearly ready tostrike, when the catch is released and permitted to fall into one of thenicks, as described. The hammer m being entirely concealed within thestock or breech, the pistol is in a -great measure prevented from beingaccidentally discharged after the manner of ordinary pistols.

It. will be obvious that the spring F may be dispensed with by employinga ring attached to the rod D, and so arranged that the rod may be workedboth ways by the finger inserted in the same, without departing from thespirit of our invention also, that the pull G may be pivoted or rigid,as preferred.

Having thus explained our improvement, what we claim is 1. In a pistol,substantially such as described, the sliding rod D and hammer m,combined to operate substantially as specified.

2. In a pistol, substantially such as described, the hammer m, providedwith the spring-pin K, substantially as set forth.

3. In a pistol, substantially such as described, the pull G, arranged tooperate substantially as set forth.

4. I11 a pistol, substantially such as de-' scribed, the cylinder Q,barrel B, hammer m, pawl P, and rod D, combined to operate substantiallyas specified.

5. In a pistol, substantially such as described, the boss h, incombination with the spring-catch Y, substantially as set forth andspecified.

Witnesses:

O. A. SHAW, JOHN C. SANBORN.

